Such actuating devices have so far been designed as compressed-gas-operated piston-cylinder units or electric drives. Piston-cylinder drives are inflexible and mostly bulky, as they must have a linear travel path for the piston. An important prerequisite for the use for a safety means is the reaction time, i.e. how fast can the actuating device activate the protection means to such an extent that the protective effect is obtained. This is impeded by the mass inertia of moving parts. It is often attempted to compensate this obstacle by overdimensioning the drive, whereby space requirement and weight of the actuating device are increased.
The invention provides an actuating device requiring little space, which can flexibly be accommodated in the vehicle and has a very short reaction time.